Of GovTech’s 93 retrenched staff, 42% are in their 40s: Jasmin Lau

SINGAPORE – Officers aged between 40 and 49 accounted for the largest group of the 93 workers retrenched by the Government Technology Agency of Singapore in July as part of a two-year restructuring exercise to keep pace with new demands in the public sector.

This age group accounted for 42 per cent of the officers who lost their jobs, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau said in Parliament on Aug 4.

The 40-to-49 age group also accounted for 42 per cent of the 305 officers involved in the first phase of the restructuring exercise, said Lau, adding that it is therefore not over-represented among the exiting officers.

Another 30 per cent of those retrenched were aged above 50, she said in response to a question from labour MP Patrick Tay (Pioneer).

Of the 305 officers, 93 were retrenched, 102 were retained or redeployed into other roles, and 110 officers were put through structured job conversion and apprenticeship pathways.

Tay, WP’s Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) and Non-Constituency MP Andre Low had asked about the age profile and tenure of the 93 retrenched staff, their skill gaps and why they were not deemed transferrable to other agencies.

In response, Lau said: “There is no significant difference in tenure between the exiting officers and those on retraining pathways.”

She added that those who were laid off had served for a median of 5.4 years, compared to a median of six years for the officers being retrained.

“As for seniority, two-thirds of the affected officers were individual contributors and one-third of the affected officers were team leaders,” said Lau, who is also the Minister-in-charge of GovTech.

In July, GovTech said a total of 7 per cent to 9 per cent of roles in its 3,900-strong workforce would be affected by the restructuring exercise over the next two years. Staff working in project delivery and vendor management roles were among those affected.

In a note to staff, GovTech chairman Chng Kai Fong said the move is meant to shift the agency’s focus from managing projects delivered by vendors to owning and running products in-house.

Explaining GovTech’s decision process, Lau said: “GovTech first assessed the job roles it needed for its future organisational and capability needs. Then, it assessed individual officers based on their competencies, domain expertise, job fit and readiness for the roles required.”

She added that tech leaders in government agencies, including chief information officers and practice leads, were also consulted, but GovTech made the final workforce decisions centrally.

While GovTech has invested heavily in pilots and apprenticeships to retrain existing staff for new roles or to redeploy them, Lau said there are limits to this pace and scale, and that retrenching some officers is unavoidable.

“Technology is changing fast and GovTech must keep up. If we fall behind, the quality of our digital products and services for citizens will suffer,” she added.

GovTech is working with the Public Service Division and the Skills and Workforce Development Agency, as well as NTUC’s e2i, to facilitate job matching and referrals for affected officers that no longer have a suitable role within the agency, said Lau.

“Together, we identified a good mix of more than 300 job opportunities that are relevant to the affected officers’ competencies,” she said, adding that those affected will also receive financial and transition support, career guidance and active job-placement assistance.

Five other MPs also raised questions such as whether there is a sufficient talent pipeline to support the growing demand for workers who can manage and develop digital products, and if GovTech’s move reflects a broader shift in public-sector tech hiring.

Lau said that for the wider tech workforce within the public service, mid-career professionals in project and vendor management bring valuable and transferable experience that can serve as useful foundations for product-oriented roles.

However, she added that they will need to acquire relevant skills such as agile delivery (which focuses on building products iteratively), user-centred design, and knowledge of data, cloud technologies or cybersecurity.

“We recognise that technology will continue to evolve, and the skills required of technology professionals will also have to evolve in tandem,” she said.

To meet the growing demand for digital capabilities across the public and private sectors, the Government will continue to support workers through initiatives such as the TechSkills Accelerator, said Lau. The TechSkills Accelerator training programme helps mid-career workers pivot to tech roles, and helps the existing tech workforce to stay relevant.

“We will continue to work with the industry and institutes of higher learning to ensure that training opportunities are available for Singaporeans to reskill and upskill to take on roles in growing digital fields, including digital product management and ownership.”

Lau also addressed several supplementary questions after the House agreed to extend question time on GovTech’s retrenchment and restructuring exercise.

On Tay’s questions about the lessons learnt from GovTech’s first restructuring, Lau said the agency will shorten the period the affected officers have to spend in GovTech before exiting, adding that prolonging the period would create uncertainty and anxiety.

Lau also addressed misconceptions that the agency will be moving all work in-house, saying that GovTech will continue to work with vendors that bring specialised expertise to complement officers with the agency.

“We will be clearer on this distinction in how we communicate future phases so that our partners and the industry understand exactly what is and what is not changing.”